GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Arianna in Creta (complete opera) Mata Katsuli (soprano) Mary-Ellen Nesi (mezzo) Irini Karaianni (mezzo) (Marita Paparizou (mezzo) Petros Magoulas (bar) / Orchestra of Patras / George [ MDG / 3 CD Box Set - released 15/Jul/2006 ] "One of Handel's underrated works ... never less than interesting ... a strong performance where vivid, dramatic values are to the fore" (MusicWeb June 2006) |
FREDERICK DELIUS
Delius: Orchestral & Choral Works / A Village Romeo & Juliet / Songs Maureen Forrester, John Cameron, Dora Labbette / Beecham Choral Society, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Beecham [ Warner Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "A record to treasure. The greatest recordings made in stereo by the greatest British conductor at the peak of his career." - Gramophone |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Dichterliebe & Selected Songs Mauro Peter (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 26/Aug/2017 ] "Mauro Peter has the kind of Dichterliebe voice I hear in my mind's ear: fresh, youthful, evenly produced, with mellifluousness balanced by a touch of metal." Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Solo Vocal |
MAX RICHTER
Richter: Three Worlds: Music From Woolf Works (2 LP) Max Richter, Louisa Fuller, Natalia Bonner, John Metcalfe, Ian Burdge, Chris Worsey [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 LP - released 2/Mar/2018 ] Max Richter explores time and memory in his latest Deutsche Grammophon album, Three Worlds: Music from Woolf Works Virginia Woolf's sharp eye for the detail of life guided her work as a writer, its presence felt in everything from pioneering... |
MAX RICHTER
Richter: From Sleep (180g Double Transparent Edition LP) Max Richter (piano, organ, synthesizers, electronics) [ Deutsche Grammophon vinyl / 2 LP - released 18/Sep/2015 ] Acclaimed British composer Max Richter has written a new landmark recording: From SLEEP is actually and genuinely intended to send the listener to sleep. The ground-breaking new work is scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals - but no... |
MAX RICHTER
Richter: From Sleep (180g Double LP) Max Richter (piano, organ, synthesizers, electronics) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 LP - released 18/Sep/2015 ] Acclaimed British composer Max Richter has written a new landmark recording: From SLEEP is actually and genuinely intended to send the listener to sleep. The ground-breaking new work is scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals - but no... |
Mayuko Kamio
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto [ Sony Classical / CD - released 28/Feb/2011 ] |
JOHN FIELD
Field: Piano Concertos (complete) Maceal O'Rourke (piano) / London Mozart Players / Matthias Bamert (with David Juriz, violin, & Julia Desbruslais, cello) [ Chandos Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2008 ] "O'Rourke seems to have adopted the style of Field himself; he has a lovely touch and flow." (American Record Guide) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert - Complete String Quartets Melos Quartett [ Deutsche Grammophon Collector's Edition / 6 CD Box Set - released 18/Jun/2005 ] "The Melos arean impressive body whose accounts of this repertoire are unmannered and on the whole sympathetic" (Penguin Stereo Guide) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
The Very Best Of Beethoven London Classical Player, Roger Norrington / François-René Duchâble / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste / Dmitry Sitkovetsky / etc [ Virgin / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 25/Aug/2019 ] "This reissue is greatly to be welcomed as it usefully collects together some very thought-provoking performances at an affordable price and in good, clear recorded sound." (MusicWeb) |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Otello (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Aleksandrs Antonenko, Sonya Yoncheva, Željko Lučić, Chad Shelton, Dimitri Pittas, Jennifer Johnson / Yannick Nézet-Séguin (cond) [ Sony Classical Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 24/Sep/2016 ] "Ms. Yoncheva, the fast-rising Bulgarian soprano, just 33, is poised for a major career, and this Desdemona shows why. Her luscious sound has just enough of an earthy tinge and texture to balance the shimmer of her singing." NY Times |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Aida (complete opera recorded in 1989) Metropolitan Opera / Aprile Millo, Dolora Zajick, Placido Domingo / James Levine, conductor [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 20/Sep/2003 ] "Levine's is a stalwart reading, less flashy than Maazel's and with a finer orchestra, although he could have turned up the tempo and temperature a little for the war declaration and the tomb scene." Gramophone |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Complete operas recorded in 2012) Metropolitan Opera / Waltaud Meier, Iain Paterson, Jay Hunter Morris, Deborah Voigt / Fabio Luisi (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 14/Mar/2013 ] "Deborah Voigt's Brunnhilde is attractively lyrical. Jay Hunter Morris's stand-in Siegfried is a discovery, a handsome, extrovert giant...Hans-Peter Konig is a brutish Hagen." BBC Music Magazine, June 2013 **** |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles [The Pearl Fishers] (complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, Nicolas Teste / Gianandrea Noseda (cond) [ Erato Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 24/Jan/2017 ] "The Met has thrown everything they have at Les Pêcheurs de Perles. The current new production, shared with English National Opera, serves in New York as a vehicle for star soprano Diana Damrau." The Guardian |
Metropolitan Opera Orc & Choru
Puccini: La Boheme [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 7/Feb/2011 ] |
DONIZETTI
La Fille Du Regiment (complete opera recorded in 1940) Metropolitan Opera, Lily Pons, Raoul Jobin, Irra Petina & Salvatore Baccaloni, Irra Petina / Gennaro Papi (cond) [ Sony Classical / 2 CD - released 31/Oct/2011 ] Recorded live on 28th December 1940 Beloved soprano Lily Pons was at her most charming and vivacious in this performance, her house role debut as the titular heroine, Marie, and her only Met broadcast in the role. The cast for this centennial... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Lohengrin (complete opera recorded in 1986) Metropolitan Opera / Peter Hofmann, John Macurdy, Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek / James Levine (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Jul/2006 ] "The Met brought out its best available performers. . . James Levine. . . controls the music superbly and. . . brings out a texture of sound in which Wagnerian sensualists can simply wallow." (Washington Post, 1986) |
THE COUPERIN FAMILY
Couperin Dynasty Michael Borgstede, Yago Mahúgo, Massimo Berghella (harpsichords) Simone Pierini (fortepiano) [ Brilliant Classics / 19 CD Box Set - released 5/Jan/2024 ] Admiration for the French composer, harpsichordist and organist, Louis Couperin continues to grow steadily today, but it was not so during his lifetime. The first important edition of his work in modern times catalogues 129 pieces as authentic. |
Michael Kamen
Kamen: Band Of Brothers [ Sony Classical / CD - released 8/Oct/2001 ] |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The World's Very Best Opera for Kids ... In English!-14 best loved arias the whole family will enjoy Michael Schade / Jean Stilwell / Allan Monk / Tracy Dahl / Daniel Taylor / Suzie Leblanc etc. [ Classical Kids / CD - released 1/Jan/2004 ] |